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Friday, March 26, 2010

A set of black-and-white photographs of Marilyn Monroe wearing pointed, thick-rimmed sunglasses and a short sleeve dress, appearing relaxed and lounging around a New York apartment were unveiled recently after being held in a private archive for more than 45 years. Marilyn Monroe died in August, 1962, nine months after the shot of these photos.

This set of photos consists of four single images and two triptychs, shot by photographer Len Steckler when Monroe was unexpectedly arrived at his apartment in December, 1961, to visit his friend, Pulitzer-prize winning poet Carl Sandburg.

Beyonce Knowles Friends have confirmed that she is pregnant with Jay-Z child and there is a rumor of Beyonce-Jay-Z marriage is going on since Friday. We have already reported that there might be a strong possibility that she might be pregnant after she was spotted in New York this week sporting what appeared to be a baby bump.

Their friends are happy for both of them and they are wishing the couple many many years of togetherness and happiness and lots of babies. Beyonce has also gained weight so now it’s almost confirmed that she is pregnant. Now we are just waiting for official confirmation from the couple.

T.I., whose real name is Clifford Harris Jr., is in the final hours of his sentence of a year and a day in prison. At the end of the day Friday, he begins three years on probation for a federal conviction of possession of silencers, machine guns and other weapons.

Harris spent the last month of his prison sentence under house arrest but was still in the custody of the federal Bureau of Prisons. For the next 23 days, he will have to observe a curfew – home by 11 p.m. unless he has a concert, which pushes the deadline back two hours, according to his attorney, Steve Sadow.

Gilbert entering the courthouse this afternoon and getting stopped for an autograph

In the latest “athlete who got off easy” news, Gilbert Arenas was just sentenced to 30 days at a halfway house. This stems fro his weapons charge after he illegally brought 4 loaded guns to the Wizards locker room to “settle a gambling debt” with a teammate. Gilbert claims they were only joking around and play fighting, but text messages and notes uncovered this week led the prosecution to believe he deliberately lied. Over 40 guns were also found in his home despite Gilbert not having a license for them.

The judge stated in court to Gilbert, “The fact that you are a good person doesn’t diminish your wrong doing, and additional punishment must be imparted.”

Despite the prosecution demanding 3 months jail time, the D.C. judge only ordered 30 days in a halfway house. And according to ESPN, Gilbert was also sentenced to two years probation and must donate $5,000 to victims of violent crimes fund and do 400 hours community service.

Like so many other concepts promoted by the left, self-proclaimed progressives and their allies in organized labor have used the term “living wage” to mislead the public and justify government intervention in this case on behalf of organized labor. While the term “living wage” evokes sympathy and sounds innocuous, the real objective of the “living wage” in the eyes of organized labor is to use the coercive power of the government to unionize millions of new workers at the expense of the taxpayer and the American economy.

Progressives utilize government intervention to enable workers to receive far more than market value for their services through labor union coercion and collectivism. The “living wage” concept is closely related to the Marxist theory of surplus labor. Marx used surplus labor theory to create class envy and create the illusion that workers could never receive the fair value of their efforts. He used this concept to justify a violent overthrow of capitalism and replacement with worker run communism. However under communism, workers were constrained to lives of misery in support of Communist Party officials.

“There is some sort of breaking point. The federal government can’t keep expanding its borrowing without having to incur some costs.”—Thomas Girard, New York Life Investment Management.

Barack Obama is bringing America to the breaking point. And time is rapidly running out to reverse course.

Now that ObamaCare is the law of the land, the nation’s skyrocketing debt is set to grow at an alarming rate.

Currently the U.S. has about $12.6 trillion in outstanding treasuries (i.e. debt) that will eventually have to be paid back. Another $2.43 trillion of debt treasuries will be sold this year, projects Bloomberg News. That’s more than it has ever sold in history, and about $521 billion more than the White House had projected the national debt would grow in 2010.

Importantly, it’s also some $874 billion more than the projected budget deficit of $1.556 trillion for 2010. A good chunk of that is the amount that has to be paid back immediately on the principal owed.

For now, the U.S. is able to pay off that principal through the sale of more treasuries. For now.

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- An agreement by euro-zone leaders on a joint contingency plan with the International Monetary Fund to provide aid to Greece received a lukewarm reaction in financial markets, with the euro rebounding from 10-month lows and Greek government bond modestly outperforming their counterparts.

The yield premium demanded by investors to hold 10-year Greek government bonds over benchmark German bunds narrowed to around 3 percentage points Friday, in from around 3.10 percentage points Thursday and from around 3.5 percentage points earlier in the week.

The euro /quotes/comstock/21o!x:seurusd (CUR_EURUSD 1.3401, +0.0124, +0.9340%) rose 0.8% versus the U.S. dollar to change hands at $1.3378 after hitting a 10-month low versus the U.S. unit below $1.33 on Thursday. The euro began the week above $1.35.

Shares of Greek lenders rallied. See full story.

The agreement "should help provides some stability (for Greek bonds) against bunds," particularly following the European Central Bank's decision Thursday to extend looser collateral requirements beyond the end of 2010, said Nick Stamenkovic, fixed-income economist at RIA Capital in Edinburgh. Read about the ECB's collateral decision.

Stamenkovic said the agreement should help Greece meet its upcoming debt financing obligations. Greece has around 20 billion euros ($27 billion) in debt coming due in April and May.

Greek officials will want to see the spread between Greek bonds and German bunds narrow further as they approach crucial refinancing needs in April and May.

Details of the plan, which would be implemented only as a last resort, remain murky. The agreement, however, represents a major compromise that would see the Washington-based IMF play a role in economic affairs within the euro zone while also paving the way for bailouts within the single-currency region.

A joint statement by euro-zone leaders didn't provide details on the size of any aid package. Reuters reported that aid would total between 20 billion to 22 billion euros ($29.2 billion). Euro-zone countries would fund two-thirds of the aid, with the IMF providing a third.

The package would involve "substantial" IMF financing and a "majority of European financing," the statement said. Euro-zone countries would contribute to coordinated, bilateral loans.

Euro-zone states would have to agree unanimously to disburse bilateral loans. The loans would carry strict conditions and would be provided at market interest rates without a subsidy.

Economists have charged that a role for the IMF, which usually provides aid to developing nations, risks permanently tarnishing the standing of the euro, underlining the inability of the euro zone to enforce its own fiscal rules.

German revolt IMF participation came at the insistence of German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Opinion polls show Germans strongly oppose providing aid to Greece or other troubled euro zone nations. Local elections are set to take place in Germany on May 9.

Germany's call for IMF participation was backed initially by the Netherlands and Finland. France, the euro-zone's second largest economy after Germany, initially opposed the move, as did European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, however, agreed to including the IMF after a meeting with Merkel on the sidelines of the European Union summit Thursday.

Trichet late Thursday was quoted as saying he was "extremely happy" that euro-zone leaders had reached a deal. But earlier in the day, he said in an interview with French television that a role for "the IMF or another body" in place of euro-zone officials or governments "would obviously be very, very bad."

The critical comments were credited with sending the euro to Thursday's lows.

The agreement may offer only limited relief to euro bulls, said strategists at UniCredit Bank in Milan, since aid will only be available as a last resort. The euro regained its footing after Trichet backed off his earlier criticism of the IMF role, but the single currency needs to make a move above chart resistance at $1.3440 or risk falling back toward $1.3250, they said.

While Greece's near-term financing worries have eased, "it would be wrong to think that the crisis is over," said Jonathan Loynes, chief European economist at Capital Economics.

Market interest rates still remain very high and Greece still faces long-term economic pain as it attempts to slash its budget deficit from 12.7% of gross domestic product -- more than four times the E.U. limit -- to 8.7% this year and less than 3% in 2012, economists said.

And concerns remain over other debt-strapped euro-zone countries, such as Portugal, which was downgraded by Fitch Ratings earlier this week, and Ireland.

Osama bin Laden is threatening to kill any American captured by al-Qaida if the United States executes the alleged mastermind of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

The Arabic television network al Jazeera aired an audiotape on Thursday, in which bin Laden explicitly mentions Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who is set to be tried in a U.S. federal court or military tribunal.

Mohammed and four alleged co-conspirators could face the death penalty for charges that include murder and terrorism in connection with the 2001 attacks on the U.S.

In the audio message, bin Laden also said U.S. President Barack Obama is following in the footsteps of his predecessor, George W. Bush, by escalating the war in Afghanistan, oppressing al-Qaida prisoners, and supporting Israel in its "occupation of Palestinian land."

There was no immediate independent verification of the recording's authenticity.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs did not respond directly to the comments Thursday, but said the Obama administration will keep up the pressure to destroy the al-Qaida network.

The U.S.-based IntelCenter that monitors terrorist propaganda, said bin Laden's threat could signal an increased kidnapping risk targeting Americans during the trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in the U.S.

Schoolchildren were left in tears after their teacher was gunned down by a crazed hoodie in the playground – in a ’sick’ role-playing stunt.

Terrified children – aged from 10 to 13 years old – watched as the supposed gunman strolled into the playground, took aim and shot the teacher, before running into the school’s science lab.

Other staff in on the stunt rushed to the popular teacher’s aid and appeared to give CPR in an attempt to save his life.

It was 10 minutes before the shocked pupils of Blackminster Middle School in Evesham, Worcestershire, were rounded up and taken into the school hall where teachers explained that the scenario had been mocked up as part of a forthcoming science lesson.

Donovan McNabb: Although it seems like the Rams have zero interest in McNabb – lucky for him; that’d be a sad way to end a very good career – is anyone else surprised that the Eagles aren’t looking to unload Kolb? The little we’ve seen from Kolb in three years has done nothing to impress us. What if they passed on trading this guy and when he finally gets the gig, lays an egg? The Eagles suffered massive injuries last year and still made the Wild Card game. Assuming the offensive line is improved, and their linebackers don’t get hurt before week one … and the Eagles will be in the playoffs again. With McNabb. Trade Kolb, get a draft pick, make a run at the Super Bowl. [Daily News]

VATICAN CITY (RNS) American victims of clerical sex abuse protested at the Vatican on Thursday (March 25), charging that Pope Benedict XVI had personally mishandled the case of a Wisconsin priest who molested up to 200 deaf boys more than 35 years ago.

"What the pope will not admit is what he knew and the Vatican knew,"

said John Pilmaier, Milwaukee leader of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, at an informal press conference a few yards from St.

Peter's Square.

Pilmaier and three other SNAP members sought to draw attention to the case of the Rev. Lawrence C. Murphy, who was the subject of an article in Thursday's edition of the New York Times.

Murphy, who died in 1998, resigned in 1974 as director of a Catholic school for the deaf in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, following accusations that he had molested students during his nearly 25 years on the staff.

The priest received no further pastoral assignments, yet continued to work with children. Though allegations against him were apparently reported to the police, Murphy was never prosecuted.

In 1996, then-Archbishop Rembert Weakland of Milwaukee referred Murphy's case to the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), writing that he had learned only recently that Murphy might have approached some of his victims in the confessional, a violation that would have brought the case under the CDF's jurisdiction.

The CDF was at that time headed by Pope Benedict, then known as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. The office's second in command was then-Archbishop Tarcisio Bertone, now a cardinal and Vatican Secretary of State, the Catholic Church's No. 2 official.

After consulting with Bertone, Wisconsin church officials moved to try Murphy under church law, a process that could have led to his defrocking. But in January 1998, the accused asked Ratzinger to call off the trial.

Stating that he was 72 years old and "in poor health" and had "repented of any of my past transgressions," Murphy asked to be allowed to "live out the time that I have left in the dignity of my priesthood."

Later that year, Bertone instructed the Wisconsin church authorities to end judicial proceedings against Murphy.

The Vatican's actions in the Murphy case appear consistent with statements earlier this month by the Catholic official in charge of investigating clerical sex abuse, who told an Italian newspaper that his office has handled 60 percent of the cases referred to it without resorting to a trial, "above all because of the advanced age of the accused."

But the SNAP protestors stressed the gravity of Murphy's crimes, and especially the involvement of the future pope.

"(Benedict) owes it to every survivor and their families to be honest with us and explain what happened behind those walls, what was covered up, and to finally tell us the truth," Pilmaier said.

A few hours later, the Vatican responded with a front-page article in its official newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, under the headline "No Cover-up."

Insisting on the "transparency, firmness and severity" of the pope's approach to clerical sex abuse, the newspaper denounced what it called the media's "obvious and ignoble intention of striking, at all costs, at Benedict XVI and his closest collaborators."

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